During yesterday's visit to a retirement home on lower Queen Anne here in Seattle our group from the Ballard Eagleson VFW Post 3063 visited with some veterans of WWII, Korea and Vietnam. There were retired Navy, Army, Marine Corps and Air Force people who attended the flag raising ceremony we conducted in the courtyard of their home. There were also lots of women at the ceremony. That seems to be a constant when I visit retirement homes. Always lots more women than men. In the VA Hospital, on the other hand, there are men almost exclusively.
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| VFW members Kettle and Rodenberger raising the flag |
Visits to these places always remind me that there are many of the residents who don't seem to have visitors. Some want to talk and get started even before introductions have taken place. It seems a shame they are so starved for attention.
Our western culture doesn't much value the wisdom of our elders. Quite often we see older people laughed at and derided as old and out of touch. What many younger people don't realize is that those elders have a lifetime of experience to share if only we would give them the opportunity. When we visit the retirement centers and VA Hospital we try to give the residents that opportunity to share or at least converse.
In our modern apartment complexes and homogeneous neighborhoods we don't see the cycle of life playing out. Sometimes we see babies and children but not often are the older people in evidence. But it is a fact that we all grow old and die. Visiting the retirement homes gives us a chance to see the end of life scenario that we all face sooner or later.
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| Great nieces and nephew decorating grave sites yesterday |
I think this might be what that old golden rule is talking about. Do unto others as we would have them do unto us.
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